Congratulations to Kevin Pickering and  Wimborne Orienteers for getting the organisation ‘spot on’ and appropriate for a British Night Champs.

Results here Routegadget here

Substantial hardstanding car parks, the start, finish and assembly all within 250m allowed  competitors a more relaxed approach to their pending race. The facilities at the assembly area were fantastic, warm environment, plenty of space to sit before and after your race, complete with hot food and drinks a plenty.

Steve Mckinley, event controller said

"Moors Valley is a physical forest in places and it has been 6 years since the area has hosted a “significant event”, at which runners were taking  6.2min/km.  For the BNOC the guidance is a winning time on M21L of 75 mins for a “top elite competitor. Last year Graham G won the M21L course running at 5.1min/k so we aimed for a course around the 14km mark. I think Linda did a great effort in making courses that tried to encourage you in the forest when we thought it wasn’t too bad, and otherwise to give you longer legs around the blocks of paths. The option to get out onto a path was nearly always there, but maybe I should have cut the course lengths a little, so if you thought the courses were too long thanks for not shouting at me on the night and I hope you enjoyed getting  your money’s worth".

The weather, unlike the last two night championships, was perfect for a night event. The event ran very smoothly aided by the great venue at Moors Valley with a really good atmosphere in the restaurant for the meal and presentations.

One hiccup which could have made our lives difficult was when the restaurant and toilets had to be closed mid afternoon for a fire alarm, but after an all clear from the fire brigade we had a fairly empty facility for us to use, which in the end helped us, as the car park and restaurant were nearly full before the alarm and the rumour that it was our curry orders burning was not true!

We managed to have the last competitor out of the forest at around 10.30, who sensibly phoned in their location at a control, so we could collect them, and therefore didn’t need to put our rescue plans into operation. 

Kevin Pickering, event organiser said

"A BIG BIG thank you to everyone who helped and competed at the BNOC on Saturday night.  The forest is tough in places and that is why we had the ‘No Whistle No Go’ rule in place. Having heard from some other organisers that whistles have helped rescue competitors in trouble, I believe that it should be made a rule for all orienteering competitions. Remember C-D-W  before arriving at the starts , Compass - Dibber - Whistle. 

We have applied to run the SWOA Compass Sport heat at Moors Valley on the 18th February 2024 so the area is embargoed for Orienteers from now until then.

We had a team of 45 helpers on the night ensuring everything ran smoothly and to time. Thank you to all those and for being members of very friendly Clubs in the area".

We wonder if Claro had the highest success rate of any club at the British Night Championships and some of their winners are pictured.  They also wished to thank Wimborne Orienteers for a splendid race.